


Social Creatures

by SwoodMaxProductions



Category: Dead Cells (Video Game)
Genre: Cuddling & Snuggling, Fluff and Hurt/Comfort, Found Family, Friendship, Gen, Hugs, Hurt/Comfort, Platonic Cuddling, Sleepy Cuddles, Spoilers, Stress, Touch-Starved, Worldbuilding
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-22
Updated: 2020-10-22
Packaged: 2021-03-08 23:27:50
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 567
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27144505
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SwoodMaxProductions/pseuds/SwoodMaxProductions
Summary: The Collector fails to deny his need for social bonds and affection, the Beheaded is ready to hug at the drop of a hat, and the Time Keeper realizes how happy these people make her.
Relationships: The Beheaded & the Collector & the Time Keeper
Comments: 4
Kudos: 32





	Social Creatures

**Author's Note:**

> You can pry both platonic content and the Collector being a raptor-lizard-cryptid-man out of my cold, dead hands, so without further ado: The Snuggles.

The Collector had come to realize that evolution was a harsh mistress. In this ruined kingdom, his invaluable natural intelligence and agility came with a hefty price. Many tens of thousands of years ago, his earliest ancestors hunted in packs— living together, fighting together. Making tools, discovering agriculture, and eventually building civilizations together.

He was plagued by a bone-deep ache for  _ contact _ , for the touch of another, for the reassurance of trust, for affection. Drowning out his rational mind’s caution and memories of losing everything was the clamor of a primal need to be  _ together. _

Sophisaurids were not meant for solitude.

~~~

Ever since joining her efforts with those of the people of the Havens, the Time Keeper had begun noticing things about the Collector. He was, understandably, extremely stressed by his research into a cure for the Malaise on top of his almost singlehanded maintenance of the Havens, not to mention essentially being the father of, for lack of a better term, an oversized rambunctious child.

He also had a bizarre relationship with being touched…

“I’m fine, really!”

“Collector. I’m just checking on your worm bite…”

He shuddered a bit. With all three of them (or four, considering the owl the Prisoner had “insisted” on bringing along) taking shelter in an abandoned Banished sniper nest for the night, touch was inevitable. It was seeming more and more like he tried to avoid physical contact, yet paradoxically he seemed to enjoy it…

Maybe he was trying to guard himself. Trying to keep himself always working, safe from betrayal or more loss…

Oh, god…

“I… I can’t do this anymore,” blurted the Collector, “I… I… Oh god, how do I explain…”

“The… not being touched?”

He stared at her, two dumbfounded points of light in the dark recess of his hood.

“...Yes…! Y— How did you…?”

“I… noticed some things,” the Time Keeper admitted, “...Do you… want a hug…?”

The Collector hesitated.

“...Yes…” he whispered.

It was all the prompting the Beheaded needed. Within seconds, he’d clambered across the small space, sending the owl flapping up into the hut’s rafters with a startled hoot. 

The Collector melted into his embrace with a deep, shuddering sigh. The Time Keeper moved closer, rubbing steady circles on the alchemist’s back. He was so tense and skinny it felt like his flesh was pulled taut over his bones. The poor man was doing so much for everyone. He deserved this…

“Thank you,” he whispered, “Thank you…”

The Time Keeper lay down next to him, so that he was sandwiched between her and the Beheaded. She could feel the tension melting from the Collector’s body. It… did feel good. Ever since her father, the island’s kindly Clockmaker died, she’d had no one. She’d almost forgotten what these soft, gentle moments felt like. She couldn’t imagine what the Collector’s situation had been like, locked away in the Astrolab, away from his family, living in constant fear of the King. And that was  _ before  _ the Malaise…

It seemed almost miraculous that her old reptilian colleague was still alive and functioning. It was no wonder he was in such a state of euphoria at simply being  _ held. _

The owl peered down from the rafters of their discovered shelter, flapping down to perch closer to the three of them. 

The Time Keeper knew, deep in her heart, that she had made the right decision in joining this…  _ family. _


End file.
